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It’s mid-July when it finally clicks. Something had been different about Annabeth all summer. And it wasn’t just that she and Percy had broken up and decided they were better off as best friends. No, this wasn’t just about Percy. This was something else. But Piper just couldn’t put her finger on it.
That is, until she catches Annabeth looking—no—gawking at her abs when she lifts the hem of her shirt to wipe sweat from her forehead.
Piper, Annabeth, and Percy are knee deep on the shoreline of Canoe Lake after helping Percy with a “bubble bath problem” as he’d called it. How she’d gotten roped into this she didn’t know. Unfortunately, that problem had involved several angry naiads grumbling that the Stolls prank was not funny and had taken them the better half of the afternoon to solve. So Piper’s standing there in the golden light of the setting sun with rivulets of sweat coming from her temples.
And Annabeth’s eyes are trailing up and over her exposed midriff. There’s a look in them—something that reminds Piper of fire. And it’s slow and longing, almost like she’s relishing the moment. Her lips are slightly parted, her cheeks are flushed. Piper pauses, huh, that’s weird. Annabeth is very blatantly checking her out.
And then Percy coughs and not-so-subtly nudges Annabeth in the side as he smirks.
Annabeth’s eyes rip away from her and up to Percy. She’s got a guilty blush crawling up her neck that makes something flutter in Piper’s chest.
And it’s in that second, a million moments from this past summer and before click into place to form an indisputable truth.
Annabeth Chase, the Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, Hero of Olympus, and Camp-Half Blood’s golden girl has a crush on her, Piper McLean.
As impossible as it seems, Piper knows it is the truth the moment she thinks it. She’s a child of Aphrodite after all, she just knows these things.
She thinks of the way Annabeth’s eyes have always lingered when she rolls up her sleeves and how flustered she gets when Piper compliments her. She thinks of the way she’d blushed when Piper said “thanks babe” as she snagged a bagel from her breakfast plate last week and how Annabeth had offered an unintelligible squeak in response.
And most importantly she thinks about how her charmspeak has always worked a little too well on Annabeth. Chiron had told her that the best charmspeakers could get almost anyone to do as they said, but that the effect would be strongest on those who were most attracted to her. And for whatever reason Annabeth has always been very effected.
But still, it seems almost too good to be true.
Annabeth’s been her best friend since she arrived at Camp Half Blood with Jason and Leo. And sure, she’s had a crush on Annabeth for what seems like ages. What, with all that time spent together while building the Argo II, a few sleepless nights on the deck looking up at the stars. They’d gone to the end of the world and back together in mostly one piece. Not to mention Annabeth was the smartest and probably most gorgeous girl she’d ever met. How couldn’t she fall for her just a little bit?
Okay—maybe more than a little bit—maybe it was more like I’m deeply in love with my best friend that has a boyfriend and is straight and would never like me back—not like that—not in a million years.
And now? Now at least one of those things was no longer true. And the other two seemed…no longer impossible.
Annabeth glances to Piper, who pretends to be busy fixing her ponytail. Her head spins and there’s a giddy beat pounding in her chest.
The dinner horn sounds from the mess hall, relieving them all from whatever this moment is.
“Finally,” Annabeth says, her voice cracks ever so slightly, she clears her throat, “I’m starving.” She wades out of the water to where Piper is standing.
“And thirsty, too?” Percy smirks. Annabeth turns and shoves his shoulder causing him to fall backward into the water with a splash.
He springs up, completely dry, and squirts water from his mouth in an arch. He laughs.
“Oh, come on ‘Beth!”
Annabeth turns to Piper and links their arms together and flicks him off as they walk towards the mess hall.
“What was that about?” Piper asks. Although she’s 99% certain that she knows.
“Oh, nothing.” Annabeth waves it off quickly, but Piper doesn’t miss the way she ducks her head to hide her blush.
--
Overnight it’s like something about her has changed. All of a sudden Piper feels the intense urge to flirt with Annabeth, at any and every opportunity she gets. She guesses it’s probably some child of Aphrodite thing. Before, sure, she and Annabeth were friendly, perhaps bordering on something more than platonic at times. But now? Now Piper is truly laying it on heavy—and not in a charmspeak kind of way of course, Piper wants to be 100% sure that Annabeth’s actions and feelings are of her own free will.
It starts the morning after her revelation.
Piper’s making her rounds doing cabin inspection. She arrives at Cabin #6 and like usual, Athena’s children have made their cabin neat and orderly. She does a slow walkthrough, pretending to pay careful attention to the minor details. All the while she can feel Annabeth’s eyes following her through the room. And typically Piper’s not one who loves attention, but for some reason, she is drinking it in. Some surge of confidence makes her strut across the room.
Finally, she makes her way to Annabeth’s bunk and pauses right in front of her, just a foot away, closer than necessary really. So close she can smell Annabeth’s lemon-scented shampoo.
Annabeth straightens up a little and pushes her shoulders back. Her eyebrows are pulled together, like she’s trying to guess what Piper’s up to—usually Piper breezes through cabin inspection—it’s a dumb chore that she mostly hates, and Annabeth knows that.
But not today.
She gives Annabeth an agonizingly slow once over, right from the top of her head, to her feet and back up again. She wants—no needs Annabeth to know that she is checking her out. Maybe give her a taste of her own medicine. She follows the lines of her face, over the freckles on the bridge of her nose, down her toned arms, and past her jean shorts to her shoes, then finally landing her eyes back on Annabeth’s hazy grey ones. When their eyes meet again, Annabeth’s face is undeniably pink. Annabeth swallows.
“Looking good, Chase.” Piper says in a low voice, “Glad to see you’ve got your campers in order.” She winks and turns on her heel.
On her way out she thinks she can hear Annabeth release a shaky breath.
She grins to herself in satisfaction.
Perfect.
Over the next few days, her flirting is relentless—almost to the point that she feels bad for Annabeth.
She’s never seen the other girl so flustered in her life.
Piper touches her arm playfully whenever she can and gives her compliments of increasing degrees of affection.
She even leans in close one night and brushes an invisible speck of smore from the corner of Annabeth’s mouth at a campfire—in response, Annabeth had fallen into a sudden coughing fit and jumped up, muttering something about having to use the bathroom.
Piper’s especially proud of what happens during one particular archery lesson.
Now archery’s never really been Piper’s strong-suit.
But on this day, an idea creeps into her head that she simply can’t avoid.
If anyone asks, she’ll deny it, but she maybe, sort of, purposefully aims poorly, time after time, missing the target by inches, then feet, then yards, until her terrible form is hard to ignore.
Next to her, Annabeth’s shooting straight as, well, straight as an arrow, and consistently on target. Now she’s no child of Apollo, but still, her years of training at camp make it so that she could give one a run for their money.
Gods, she’s so good at everything, Piper thinks.
She takes a second to admire Annabeth’s form. She watches her pull the string of the bow all the way back. Watches the muscles across her back pull taut underneath her tank top, sees her jaw clench tight. Her eyebrows furrow adorably in concentration. The sun is shining off her golden hair radiantly. Everything about her is mesmerizing and Piper wouldn’t dare take her eyes off her. She sighs in adoration.
Annabeth lets the arrow fly and it hits the target dead-on with a thunk.
That seems to knock Piper out of her reverie—she has a plan she needs to get back to.
She nocks an arrow, aims haphazardly, and somehow ends up sending it straight onto Annabeth’s target.
That gets Annabeth’s attention. She glances over to Piper with a look of bewilderment.
“Whoops.” Piper puts on an embarrassed smile.
Annabeth laughs. The sound is like music to Piper’s ears.
Will, who’s helping Chiron lead the archery lesson, glances over to them.
“Annabeth, why don’t you, uh, help Piper out with her posture.”
Piper bites down her smirk, just as she’d planned.
Annabeth gulps.
“Alright,” Annabeth says, “Why don’t you show me what you were doing.”
Piper nocks another arrow, lifts it quickly and gets into stance.
Annabeth looks her over like she’s thinking. Piper feels warm under her gaze.
“Lift your right arm a bit.”
She lifts her arm up comically high. “Like this?”
“No, lower.” Annabeth says, her eyebrows scrunching.
Piper drops her arm so low it’s almost at her side.
“Not like that,” She says, her tone half-amused, half-impatient.
She steps toward Piper like she’s about to move her herself, but then hesitates. Piper knows she needs a push in the right direction.
“Why don’t you come show me?” She bats her eyelashes just a little bit and tries her best to look pretty. Too be fair, it’s not all that hard.
Annabeth freezes, her eyes widening slightly. There’s a pretty flush crawling up her neck. You’d think that Piper had just used her charmspeak, the way Annabeth reacts, although Piper is certain she hadn’t.
“Uh—” Annabeth says, and Piper can see that her mind is whirring. What scenarios and possibilities she’s running through, Piper has no idea.
“Annabeth,” Will calls from a few stations over, “Like this.” He is standing behind Nico, barely an inch of space between them. He guides Nico’s back arm lower and tightens his fingers around the middle of the bow.
Thank the gods for Will. Piper thinks.
“C’mon, Annabeth.” She smirks, “I don’t bite.”
Annabeth rolls her eyes and mutters something Piper doesn’t catch, but eventually she complies.
She steps into Piper’s space and stands directly behind her. She places her fingertips lightly against Piper’s back elbow and Piper feels a spark of electricity shoot straight up her arm. Her heart is pounding so loud she’s sure that Annabeth can hear it.
“Here,” Annabeth says in a low voice, so low that only Piper can hear it. She shifts Piper’s arm up into place. Annabeth is so close behind her that her words come out hot against Piper’s neck. She fights the urge to shiver.
“And here,” Annabeth’s fingers glide slowly under Piper’s front arm, lifting it into a straight line.
“Now straighten up your torso. Pinch your shoulder blades together…right…here.” Annabeth’s hand skims across her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake, until her fingertips rest on Piper’s spine right between her shoulders.
Piper adjusts, and the space between them shrinks.
They stay like that for a moment and another, and then another.
“Concentrate on the target.” Annabeth whispers.
Every place that Annabeth’s hands are on Piper is on fire. So concentrating is…not easy to say the least. Piper exhales and fights the giddy nerves that roll through her chest. This is exactly as she had planned for after all.
It’s another second before Annabeth seems to remember where they are. She clears her throat and takes a half-step back.
Piper doesn’t look but she knows that Annabeth is probably blushing.
“And now you let it fly.” She says and her voice is strangely gravelly—rough in a way that Piper’s never heard.
Piper does as she says and this time the arrow hits her own target. Not dead-center, but about an inch from the center ring. Probably the best Piper’s shot all summer.
She spins on her heel facing Annabeth and gives her a wide and genuine smile. She flings herself into her, wrapping her arms tight and low around her waist. She spins them in a circle and gives a little squeal.
Annabeth shakes off what seems like shock and shares in Piper’s excitement, smiling brightly.
“You did it.” She says.
Piper pushes back so she’s holding Annabeth by the elbows and can look her in the eye.
“Only because of your excellent instruction, Annabeth.” She flirts, she looks up at her through her eyelashes.
Annabeth averts her eyes to the ground shyly.
Gods, she couldn’t get any cuter. Piper thinks.
“Yeah, well—proper form can get you a long way—” she mumbles it out almost like she doesn’t know how to take the compliment.
“Alright girls—back to your own stations.” Chiron says sternly as he clops past, but Piper can see that his eyes twinkle.
Annabeth moves away quickly—almost like she’s been caught red-handed. But when she returns to her own bow, she shoots Piper a small, conspiratorial smile that says it’s not just Annabeth who’s been caught, but both of them.
It makes Piper’s heart tumble with hope.
Finally, finally, Piper thinks, Annabeth has caught on.
Maybe she’ll finally flirt back.
Well, that moment is short-lived.
A week goes by, and Annabeth still hasn’t made a move.
Piper thought that after the archery lesson something would change. But no—if anything, Annabeth seems to have gotten even more nervous around her.
Piper enjoys messing with Annabeth, sure, the other girl is adorable when she’s flustered.
But the lack of reciprocation is really starting to eat at her. Maybe her instincts are wrong. Perhaps her crush-radar is all out of whack, and she’s misread everything. The thought makes her want to crawl into a hole and die—the idea that she isn’t making Annabeth flustered with her flirting but perhaps uncomfortable makes her sick with embarrassment and shame.
Piper’s never wanted to make Annabeth feel uncomfortable. And the thought nags her so much that she decides it’s time to cool down. Time to give up and go back to strictly being Annabeth’s gal pal. No more flirting, no more pining.
Simply platonic.
I can do this. She thinks. Hopes.
Still, something in her gut—perhaps some godly inclination or a stupid shred of mortal hope tells her that she is right—Annabeth does have feelings for her.
She tries her best to forget it.
--
Piper tries to stop. Really. But she seems physically incapable of abstaining from flirting with Annabeth.
It has to be a child of Aphrodite thing, she thinks. She’s never felt this way before.
Perhaps her most aggressive move yet comes just the day after she decided to lay off the flirting.
Annabeth’s leading a knife-wielding lesson for a handful of campers in the arena. They’re partnered up and sparring as Annabeth walks between the pairs, giving out pointers and correcting stances.
She’s got her arms crossed over her chest and her presence is commanding, regal even, as she scrutinizes the younger campers. She’s got that look on her face that Piper can tell means she’s deep in thought.
Piper is sitting with Jason and Leo in the bleachers watching the session. Well Piper’s mostly watching Annabeth—trying her hardest—and mostly failing to keep her thoughts appropriate.
It’s about midday and Piper’s spent the morning attempting to keep her thoughts off the other girl. But it seems that the moment she decided to give her some space—her mind—and body—protested.
She hadn’t been able to get her mind off Annabeth when she tackled the flaming climbing wall, and she had the scorch marks across the front of her shirt to prove it. And arts and crafts in the forge with the Hephaestus cabin hadn’t proved a good distraction either—she was millimeters away from drilling a hole in her thumb, daydreaming about Annabeth’s smile, when Leo snatched the drill from her hand and swapped it with a screwdriver.
Eventually she had convinced Jason and Leo to swing by the arena to watch Annabeth’s lesson in their free time before lunch. She saw the amused glance they’d shared when she suggested it—but she couldn’t really get herself to care.
Something was pulling her to the other girl.
“Piper—could you come down here and help me with a demonstration?” Annabeth says.
Piper swallows. She’s been dying for Annabeth’s attention for the past two weeks. And now here it is—and suddenly she feels…anxious? She’s not quite sure how her body will react to being so close to her. Already she can feel her skin tingling.
Leo and Jason grin beside her.
“Show ‘em how it’s done, Beauty Queen.” Leo smirks. She scowls at him.
She stands and scales the few steps down into the arena pit.
Annabeth has her stand across from her with Katoptris drawn. They face off and Annabeth’s got a determined look in her eye—almost like she feels she has the upper hand in the arena. Like maybe Piper’s flirting won’t get to her here.
For some reason that makes Piper want to prove her wrong.
“Lesson number one,” Annabeth says to the small ring of demigods surrounding them. She and Piper circle one another.
“Know your opponent. You should quickly analyze their strengths and weaknesses.” Her eyes flick over Piper quickly like she’s doing just so, and Piper can see the brief moment that her train of thought shifts off track. But in a second, it’s gone and she’s focused again.
Piper suppresses a grin—that inkling of hope in her bubbles up to the surface. She tries to push it down.
Friends. Best friends. That’s it.
“Who can tell me what Piper’s strengths and weaknesses are?” Annabeth asks the other campers.
The group is quiet for a moment.
“She can charmspeak the pants off anyone.” Leo volunteers. “And unless you have duct tape, not too sure how you get around that one.”
The other campers laugh. Piper knows he didn’t mean it literally but she thinks it for a brief second and she can tell that Annabeth must be thinking along the same lines because she fights off a blush.
“Right,” Annabeth nods. She schools her look into focus and doesn’t take her eyes off Piper as they continue circling one another.
“And weaknesses?”
Piper scrunches her nose at that, and Annabeth gives her an apologetic half smile that says just trying to teach a lesson here.
“Bad haircut?” Drew suggests quickly.
Annabeth’s expression turns murderous in an instant. The kind of look she usually reserves for monster killing and Piper feels herself shudder under its weight, even though she knows it’s not meant for her. Annabeth shoots a glare at Drew.
“Preferably something that would be helpful in battle, Tanaka.” Annabeth growls.
That seems to shut everyone else up and no one offers any other suggestions.
“If you can’t tell just from looking at your opponent what their strengths and weaknesses are, then you should figure out while you fight.” Annabeth says. “Keep gathering information—anything that could help you gain an edge against them.”
They begin to spar a bit. Annabeth easily blocking everything that comes her way. She’s toying with Piper really. If it wasn’t obvious from just looking at her—then it is now—Piper’s weakness is that she’s average with her knife—not bad, not good. She’s a little disorganized in attack, a tad off balance on defense. She’s got decent footwork and good reaction time—she can hold her own against a slower opponent, but against a skilled knife wielder, she’s in trouble. And Annabeth is much better than her. She seems to anticipate every step Piper takes—as if she’s studied her form or her brain for the past ten years. She’s thankful this is just a demonstration—in a real hand-to-hand fight against Annabeth she definitely wouldn’t stand a chance.
Piper’s eyes fly over her. She asks herself the same question the other girl had asked the group.
What are Annabeth’s strengths?
She could easily name a few off the top of her head.
Brilliant. Caring. Beautiful. Gods, so fucking beautiful.
Distracting.
Annabeth seems to sense that Piper’s focus has shifted because in a blur she takes a step into her space, knocks Katoptris out of her hand and sends it skittering across the dirt. She trips Piper with her left foot causing her to tumble to the ground. On the way down, Piper somehow manages to grab a handful of Annabeth’s shirt and pulls her down with her. They roll once, then twice and then Annabeth comes up on top easily, leaning over her, knees bracketing her waist, with the tip of her dagger pressed gently to her throat. She grins triumphantly.
The wind is sucked straight from Piper’s chest—and not just from the fall.
“Lesson number 2.” Annabeth says. She sits back a bit and pushes hair away from her face. She smirks down at Piper.
“Never let your guard down.”
Gods she’s hot.
Piper gives a little breathy laugh, and before she can stop herself, the words come tumbling out of her in a soft voice that only Annabeth can hear.
“If you wanted to be on top, Annie, all you had to do was ask.”
That wipes the smile off Annabeth’s face quick. Her eyes widen comically and her face flushes.
Piper uses the second that Annabeth is distracted to roll them with her legs so that she is now on top and Annabeth is flat on her back.
Piper doesn’t have her knife, it’s still a few feet away, so instead she just uses her hand, and places it at the column of Annabeth’s throat right above the dip of her collar bone and holds her like that to the ground. She can feel Annabeth’s pulse racing underneath her fingertips.
“What was that you were saying about letting your guard down?” Piper says.
Annabeth’s surprise lasts a second more before it morphs into something else.
Angry? Impressed? For once it’s hard for Piper to read.
Then it’s Annabeth’s turn to surprise her.
“I don’t know,” She swallows, her eyes glimmer brazenly, “I kind of like the view from down here.”
Piper’s throat goes instantly dry and her stomach swoops.
She’s trying to process a response when the lunch horn sounds clear and loud through the arena. And Piper is reminded of where she is. That always seems to happen when she’s with Annabeth—she forgets her surroundings, her resolve, her common sense.
Shit.
She pushes off Annabeth and stands up. She glances around to the other campers who are watching with intrigue, perhaps some confusion—like they aren’t quite sure what they just witnessed. Drew shoots her a suspicious look with a raised eyebrow.
Jason and Leo, however, don’t seem confused at all. They are doubled over in stitches on the bleachers. Piper feels her ears turn red.
She reaches down a hand to help Annabeth up.
“Sorry—I—uh,” Piper starts, although she’s not quite sure what she’s sorry for.
“No, no, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—” Annabeth cuts her off. Her face is just as red as Piper feels. And she can’t nearly look Piper in the eye.
“I should—” Annabeth points a thumb over her shoulder and doesn’t attempt to finish her sentence. She clears her throat and addresses the campers, voice strangely hoarse.
“Alright, everyone. Next knife-wielding lesson is Friday. Hope to see you all there.” She turns on her heel and hurries up the hill toward the mess hall before Piper can say anything more.
--
Annabeth ends up avoiding her the rest of the day and Piper feels like crap. She knew she needed to lay off the flirting or she’d scare Annabeth off. And now she’s done it.
Annabeth avoids eye contact like the plague all throughout lunch and when Piper approaches her about their previous plans to do Pegasus riding in the afternoon together, Annabeth gives her a sheepish look.
“Uh—I forgot, I have to help Percy with something this afternoon, right Percy?”
“Help me with what?” Percy says confused.
Annabeth shoots him a deadly glance and Piper watches a silent conversation pass between them.
“Oh—right. Yeah, that—thing. Thanks.” Percy recovers lamely.
Piper tries not to let her rejection show, but she’s sure it’s written all over her face.
“Sure,” Piper says, “I’ll see you at the campfire tonight, then?” She tries not to sound too hopeful.
Annabeth gives her a noncommittal nod before hurrying off in the opposite direction.
She doesn’t see Annabeth at the campfire that night—it seems the girl decided to go to bed early after dinner—which is odd. Annabeth’s hardly one to miss a campfire. Piper can’t help but feel that she’s the root of the cause.
She’s sure that she’s ruined her and Annabeth’s relationship for good with her little stunt today—not only is she going to lose her crush, but also her best friend—all because she couldn’t control her feelings towards the other girl and let things get out of hand.
Percy takes the seat next to her as the kids from the Apollo cabin start up a rendition of “This Land is Minos’ Land.”
“I heard about what happened this morning.” He says.
Piper glances over to him. There’s obviously only one thing he could be talking about.
“Annabeth told you?”
Percy laughs, “Ah—no. She wasn’t really in the mood to talk much at all this afternoon.” He shudders like he’s had to deal with a temperamental Athena girl all day.
“Jason told me—" He pauses and stares into the flames ahead of them, a smirk slowly forming, “Something about our ex-girlfriends and a “lesbian smackdown” in the arena?”
At that, Piper goes crimson. Okay, she had definitely taken it too far this afternoon.
She looks away from Percy and into the fire herself, wondering how she’d fucked things up so badly.
It’s another few quiet moments before Percy speaks up.
“You like her a lot, don’t you?”
Piper nods slowly. It’s the truth after all. And flirting with Annabeth had been so easy—she was so unafraid of the looks and the touching and the pining. But actually talking about her feelings. Not as easy.
“Gee—is it that obvious?” She finally says.
Percy laughs at that. “Believe me—I know what it looks like to be in love with Annabeth.” He smiles fondly, perhaps a little wistfully. “Plus, you aren’t being subtle in the slightest.”
“I’m not trying to be—” Piper says and it comes out a little more exasperated than she’d intended but exactly as hopeless as she felt “—but Annabeth doesn’t seem to notice.”
Percy gives her a look. And it feels like kind of like the one her dad gives her when he’s trying to make her learn a lesson on her own.
“What?”
“You could always just tell her.” He says it so simply.
Could it really be that simple? Sure—that’s always been an option. But still. Still. Telling Annabeth means being 100% vulnerable—being ready to lose their friendship forever. Piper’s only human—and as much as she likes Annabeth and thinks (Hopes? Knows?) that Annabeth probably likes her back based on her actions and own intution—there is still that seed of doubt in her head that tells her that she’s read this all wrong and is on a collision course headed to heartbreak.
She doesn’t voice this feeling to Percy but somehow, he seems to understand her hesitancy anyway.
He shakes his head—as if saying to himself do I have to do everything around here?
“For what it’s worth—I don’t think you have anything to worry about in regards to Annabeth’s feelings for you.”
“But… if you really want Annabeth to be the one to make the first move…I think I have idea.”
He smirks and Piper gets a bad feeling in her stomach.
“And I know exactly the right person for the job.”
--
The plan unravels the next evening at the campfire.
Just as Percy had promised, Annabeth and Rachel are seated next to one another, each with an open seat on their opposite side. Percy, Jason and Leo are sitting close behind them. How Percy made sure that Annabeth agreed to come to the campfire tonight she’s not sure. But convincing Rachel of the plan had been simple—apparently a majority of campers had been tired of the two lovesick girls taking the entire summer to figure out their feelings. (Rachel may have also had a bet going with Thalia that Annabeth would be the first to make a move—but Piper didn’t need to know that).
Piper hasn’t seen Annabeth in nearly two whole days—and when she sees her, her breath is sucked straight from her lungs. She’s just as stunning as ever—with her hair tied back in a ponytail with little whisps of gold curling around her face. Her orange t-shirt is crisp and her eyes seem to be shining more tonight than ever. It’s almost enough to distract Piper.
Nope. Not this time.
She strolls over to the two girls and slips into the seat next to Rachel.
“Hi, Rachel,” she says and she tilts her head in the way that she does when she’s flirting. She gives her coyest smile. “Annabeth,” She nods in the Athenian’s direction.
She only glances at her, but in that second, Piper can see the curious look that crosses Annabeth’s face.
“Hi, I’m glad you came,” Rachel smiles at her brightly. They sit there, grinning dumbly at one another—just as planned. Rachel is really playing into the part.
It isn’t until Annabeth clears her throat that they break eye contact.
The night goes by and they sing along with the campfire songs and chat amongst their friends. All the while, Piper really dials up the flirting with Rachel. It starts by innocently knocking knees, followed by sideways conspiratorial glances to an increasing extent. She finds an excuse to pat her hand on the inside of Rachel’s knee and lets it linger for a moment longer than necessary. She even feeds Rachel a piece of burnt marshmallow off the end of her stick and lets her eyes hang on Rachel’s lips as she chews.
She tries to keep the entirety of her attention on Rachel—for the plan to work she must focus—but still she allows herself to steal glances at Annabeth to see if she is watching. To see if the plan is working.
And she thinks that it is. As the night shifts forward—Annabeth seems to become increasingly stiff beside them.
At one point, Piper turns to her.
“Gods, Rachel your eyes look incredible in the light of the fire—” Piper slowly tilts Rachel’s chin up to get a better look at the yellows and greens and oranges reflecting in her eyes “—anyone ever told you just how pretty you are?”
Rachel tucks her hair behind her ear shyly and blushes so hard that Piper wonders briefly if it’s real.
Annabeth frowns.
“Pipes—” Rachel smacks her hand away playfully, “Stop.”
“It’s true.” Piper flirts back. She bats her eyelashes. Maybe she’s overdoing it—but something tells her this plan will work. It must work. If it doesn’t then she and Annabeth were never meant to be.
“Seriously—your eyes are beautiful. That color must be completely unique. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Piper lets a hint of awe creep into her voice as she roams her eyes all over Rachel’s face, like she’s appreciating every beautiful thing about her.
Annabeth huffs next to them, “Well technically, no two people in the world have the same eye color. So basically, all of us are unique.”
Piper’s eyes shoot to Annabeth. She’s got a steely look on her face—but she’s not looking at Piper—she’s glaring at Rachel. Her cheeks are tinged pink.
Gods, she’s so hot when she’s jealous.
“Yes, but green eyes are the rarest. Only 2% of people in the world have green eyes,” Rachel says with a hint of smugness, “Guess that makes me extra unique.”
Piper looks back to Rachel and gives a little laugh.
“There you have it,” She says, “Beauty and brains.”
That’s the kicker.
Annabeth stands abruptly, and a few other campers look their way at the commotion. She doesn’t even seem to care. And Piper doesn’t even need to look to tell that the other girl is pissed. She’s almost surprised that steam isn’t pouring out of her ears.
Annabeth stalks away from the fire towards the cabins.
Piper watches her walk off for a handful of yards stunned into silence until she hears a psst.
Percy nods in the direction that Annabeth ran off in, almost as if to say, get going, what the hell are you waiting for.
“Annabeth, wait.”
Piper runs down the path towards the cabins. It darkens the further she gets from the campfire, which slows her down.
“Annabeth?” She yells as she passes the stables. No sign of the girl anywhere.
She stops at the Athena cabin—sees that the lights are on under the crack in the door.
She knocks softly.
“Annabeth? You in there?” Piper says. She’s afraid she’s gone too far. Maybe the plan had worked a little too well.
“Annie—you okay?” She says through the door.
A second later the door swings open and Annabeth is standing right in front of her, an angry scowl on her face. Her glare is stormy grey and her eyes are narrowed.
Piper swallows.
“Are you trying to make me jealous?” Annabeth accuses sharply. Piper is stunned into silence for a moment before recovering.
“Well, are you?”
“What?”
“Are you jealous?”
“I—wha—that’s not—I asked—” Annabeth sputters. Piper lets her. The two stare in silence at one another for a long moment.
Finally, Annabeth breaks it.
“Why?” She asks quietly. And it’s a shy kind of quiet that makes Piper’s heart leap in her throat.
Piper glances between her eyes and down to her lips and then back up again.
“You’re the smart one, Annabeth. Why don’t you tell me?”
Annabeth pauses. Given all the facts, the conclusion is simple, really. As a child of Athena she just knows these things. The data leads to one inevitable truth. The flirting, the jealously, the way her heart is pounding out of control right now. It can only mean one thing.
Yet for some reason, she can’t say it aloud, maybe for fear that naming it will destroy it.
After all, giving something a name gives it power.
But still—she can’t ignore the naked truth in front of her anymore—that she is indisputably in love with Piper McLean. And maybe (probably…definitely) Piper loves her back.
She does the only thing that she can think to do in that situation.
She leans forward and kisses her. Piper’s lips are soft and desperate, then insistent in the way that they press into her and it makes Annabeth’s heart freefall into her stomach.
Between breathes Piper smiles into her, “Glad you finally got the memo.”
Annabeth shuts her up with a second kiss.